Twenty-four prisoners were freed today in an international prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries. Among the eight Russians repatriated were five convicted cybercriminals. In return, Russia has reportedly released 16 prisoners, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Today's story focuses on the 5 hackers, including:

-The Carding giant Roman Seleznev, 40, who was serving a record 27-year sentence; nabbed by the US Secret Service while he was vacationing in The Maldives

-Vladislav Klyushin, 42, also arrested while on vacation (as he was getting ready to be whisked away by helicopter to go skiing with friends). Klyushin ran an IT firm called M-13 that contracted with the Russian government to provide advanced persistent threat (APT) emulation. Co-conspirator Ivan Ermakov, wanted for hacking into key Democratic Party email accounts in 2016, remains at large.

-Russia also welcomed home one of its most accomplished money launderers. Alexander Vinnik, 44, was one of the operators of BTC-e, a large cryptocurrency exchange that helped launder crime proceeds tied to various ransomware groups. In 2017, U.S. authorities seized BTC-e, charging Vinnik with operating an international money laundering scheme that included some 850,000 bitcoins stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox. In May 2024, Vinnik pleaded guilty to laundering more than $9 billion.

More here:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/08/u-s-trades-5-cybercriminals-to-russia-in-prisoner-swap/